Mbunda language
Mbunda | |
---|---|
Mbúùnda, Chimbúùnda | |
Native to | Angola, Zambia |
Ethnicity | Mbunda people |
Native speakers | 260,000 (2000–2010)[1] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 |
mck – inclusive codeIndividual codes: yax – Yauma dialect nkn – Nkangala dialect |
Glottolog |
mbun1249 (Mbunda)[2]nkan1238 (Nkangala)[3] |
K.15,18 [4] |
Mbunda is a Bantu language of Angola and Zambia. There are several dialects: Katavola, Yauma,[5] Nkangala, Mbalango, Sango, Ciyengele ("Shamuka"), and Ndundu, all of which are closely related.[6] Mbunda was one of six languages selected by the Instituto de Línguas Nacionais (National Languages Institute) for an initial phase to establish spelling rules in 1980[7] to facilitate teaching in schools and promoting its use. [8][9]
Sounds
Mbunda is similar to Luchazi, but has some differences in the consonants. Among other differences, where Luchazi has /s, z/, Mbunda has /θ, ð/. Where Luchazi has /ts/, Mbunda has dental /t̪/.
Vowels
Like other languages in eastern Angola and Zambia, Mbunda language has five contrastive vowels:
Front (unrounded) |
Central (unrounded) |
Back (rounded) | |
---|---|---|---|
high | i | u | |
mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
low | a |
Consonants
Voiced plosives only occur as prenasalized stops, where they contrast with aspirated plosives. Otherwise only tenuis plosives are found in Mbunda.[10]
Aspirated | Voiced | Place of formation | Sample | Word Sound | Translation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
/mpʰ/ mp | /mb/ mb | bilabial | mbandu | sore | |
/nt̪ʰ/ nths | /nd̪/ ndthz | dental | ndthzili | power | |
/ntʰ/ nt | /nd/ nd | alveolar | ndolome | brother | |
— | /ndʒ/ nj | alveopalatal | njamba | elephant | |
/ŋkʰ/ nk | /ŋɡ/ ng | velar | ngonde | moon |
Orthography
Graphic Representation | Phonetic Symbol(*) | Word Example | Word Sound | Translation |
---|---|---|---|---|
a | /a/ | angula | choose | |
mb | /mb/ | mbunga | crowd | |
ch (used with nouns) or c | /tʃ/ | cili | true | |
chiyambi | hunter | |||
nd | /nd/ | ndumba | lion | |
e | /ɛ/ | ewa | yes | |
f | /f/ | fundanga | gunpowder | |
ng | /ŋɡ/ | ngombe | cow, ox | |
ŋ | /ŋ/ | ŋala | crab | |
h | /h/ | hanja | outside | |
i | /i/ | imanena | wait | |
j | /ʒ/ | jombolola | reveal | |
k | /k/ | kovela | enter | |
l | /l/ | lilonga | plate, dish | |
m | /m/ | mulonga | offence | |
n | /n/ | naana | my mother | |
ndthz | /nd̪/ | ndthzita | war | |
nk | /ŋkʰ/ | nkuta | court | |
ny | /ɲ/ or maybe /nʲ/ | nyali | brother or sister-in-law | |
o | /ɔ/ | owo | that one | |
p | /p/ | putuka | start | |
mp | /mpʰ/ | mpulu | male animal | |
t | /t/ | tulo | asleep, sleepy | |
th | /θ/ | thimbu | time | |
ths | /t̪/ | thsa | die | |
thz | /ð/ | thzala | dress up | |
u | /u/ | uli | where is he (she) | |
v | /β/ | vwato | boat, canoe | |
w | /w/ | wahi | he (she) is not here | |
x | /ʃ/ | xwata | forest | |
y | /j/ | yange | myself |
Population
Mbunda is spoken by the Mbunda people of the Moxico Province and Cuando Cubango Province of Angola and western Zambia.[13] upon the migration of among others, the Ciyengele,[14]
Dialects
The Mbunda language in Zambia Angola is not spoken exactly the same way. In Zambia it has a strong upper teeth contact with the tongue, to pronounce words like: "Mundthzindthzime" (shadow), "chithzalo" (dress), "Kuthsa" (death) and many more. The difficult sounds represented by TH.[15] Mbunda language in Angola and Namibia is spoken without the TH sounds, like in the Luchazi language;[16] the words above are pronounced as "Mutzitzime" (shadow), "chizalo" (cloth), "Kutsa" (death). Even within Zambia, the Mbunda language spoken by the Chiyengele group that migrated earlier is different from that spoken by the Mbunda group that fled into Zambia as a consequence of the Mbunda-Portuguese war of 1914. That is why the Mbunda language of the Chiyengele group, mainly found in Mongu, is nicknamed "Shamuka",[17] heavily influenced by Lozi language. The same term can be attributed to the Mbunda language in Namibia, which is heavily influenced by the Nyemba and Luchazi languages.
See also
References
- ↑ Mbunda at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Yauma dialect at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
Nkangala dialect at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) - ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Mbunda". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Nkangala". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ↑ Bantu-Languages.com, citing Maniacky 1997
- ↑ Bantu-Languages.com, citing Maniacky 1997
- ↑ http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/mbun1249 For additional sources
- ↑ Resolution adopted by Council of Ministers - Official Gazette No. 3/87 of May 1987
- ↑ Angola Harmonização das línguas bantu dificultada pela fonética e grafia
- ↑ Tusona: Luchazi Ideographs : a Graphic Tradition of West-Central Africa By Gerhard Kubik, page 300
- ↑ História da criação dos alfabetos em línguas nacionais, edições 70 - Portugal (History of the creation of alphabets in national languages, 70th editions - Portugal)
- ↑ Tusona: Luchazi Ideographs : a Graphic Tradition of West-Central Africa By Gerhard Kubik, pages 291
- ↑ The elites of Barotseland, 1878-1969: a political history of Zambia's Western Province: a. Gerald L. Caplan ISBN 0900966386 Publisher: C. Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd, 1970
- ↑ Bantu-Languages.com, citing Maniacky 1997
- ↑ A.W, July 1, 1917, A Comparative Vocabulary of Sikololo-Silui-Simbunda, African Affairs, Oxford University Press
- ↑ Tusona: Luchazi Ideographs : a Graphic Tradition of West-Central Africa By Gerhard Kubik, pages 291, 292
- ↑ Bantu-Languages.com, citing Maniacky 1997
Literature
- Jacky Maniacky, 1997, "Contribution à l'étude des langues bantoues de la zone K: analyse comparative et sous-groupements", Mémoire pour l'obtention du DEA de langues, littératures et sociétés, études bantoues, INALCO (Paris - France), 101p.
- José Redinha, 1975, Etnias e Culturas de Angola, Luanda: Instituto de Investigação Científica de Angola; reprinted fac-simile by the Associação das Universidades de Língua Portuguesa, 2009, ISBN 978 989 8271 00 6
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Coordinates: 14°06′44″S 21°26′07″E / 14.11222°S 21.43528°E
Category:Populated places in Moxico Province Category:Populated places in Cuando Cubango Province Category:Municipalities of Angola